The increased use of computerized networks such as the internet during recent years has changed the way commerce is conducted resulting in the advertising of goods and services via retailers' web pages and orders for such advertised goods via a purchase request forwarded to the retailer also placed over the internet. One estimate is that fifty percent of all large retailers now have web sites and retail sales via the internet increased from zero in 1995 to 560 million dollars in 1996.
One problem with this method of conducting commerce is the exchange of currency. If the purchaser is forced to send money in the form of a bank check to the retailer, the speed advantage of order processing via the internet is lost. On the other hand, by its nature, the internet is not a secure communication channel and thus, although some retailers allow the purchase of goods and services using a credit card, it is relatively easy for unauthorized people to steal the purchaser's credit card number and then make unauthorized purchases. And, encryption techniques which attempt to prevent such unauthorized uses of private data including credit card account numbers have been less than successful. In addition, these encryption techniques hamper the goals of fast and convenient commerce conducted over the internet.